Welcome to the official website of the COP23 Presidency, which is held by the Republic of Fiji.

Welcome to the official website of the COP23 Presidency, which is held by the Republic of Fiji. COP23 refers to the 23rd annual Conference of the Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is a place for the concerned public worldwide to begin – or continue – their engagement in the effort to combat global warming and the human activity that causes it. It will be a place to find information about climate change and its effects, learn about the objectives of COP23, read statements and speeches by the COP23 President, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, and find out more about innovative climate action initiatives and projects. It will also be a place to highlight the particular challenges that climate change presents to Fiji and other vulnerable areas around the globe.

COP24 Climate Change Conference

Virtual Summit of the Climate Vulnerable Forum

The CVF Virtual Summit is a political moment for national leaders to stand in solidarity with those most vulnerable to the growing impacts of climate change, and reinforce efforts under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.

COP23 Photo Competition

In 2017, the COP23 Presidency hosted a Pacific Photo Competition that called for images that highlighted the threats that island nations face as a result of climate change, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events and changes to agriculture.

The competition received more than 200 submissions from photographers in 10 Pacific island countries that showcased the effects of and response to climate change from around the Pacific, as seen through the lenses of local amateur photographers. The strong passion that Pacific islanders have to combat this great threat was evident in each and every shot. In the end, 39 winning images were were selected by a panel of judges at the COP23 Secretariat for their creativity, quality, originality, relevance and overall impact.

In addition to being showcased on the COP23 website, the winning photographs were displayed prominently at COP23 in Bonn, Germany, highlighting the impacts of climate change in the Pacific to delegates and attendees from around the world.

Digital Mosaic

The Fijian Presidency has partnered with Hyperactivate to create a mosaic image compiled from images shared on social media using the hashtags #Uniting4Climate and #COP23. It includes the profile pictures of 10,000 people to form the image of a drua, a traditional Fijian canoe. This is symbolic of the COP23 President’s reminder that we are all in the same canoe when it comes to climate change and that we all have a responsibility to fill its sail with our collective will to take move further and faster to tackle this great threat.

Ultimately, more than 1 million people around the world participated in the conversation, which could have filled this mosaic more than 100 times.

Pre-COP and Partnership Days 2017

The informal ministerial “Pre-COP” meeting was held from 17-18 October 2017 on Denarau Islan in Nadi, Fiji. With less than three weeks left before the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in November, the Pre-COP meeting presented Ministers with the opportunity for an honest exchange of views on key issues of the COP23 agenda before the negotiations begin in Bonn. The meeting took place in the immediate aftermath of a number of devastating weather events in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and the Pacific. These extreme events reminded participants of the urgent need to make rapid progress in the intergovernmental negotiations and for all parties to commit to ambitious climate action in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the more ambitious target of the Paris Agreement.

Climate Action Pacific Partnership Event 2017

The inaugural Climate Action Pacific Partnership (CAPP) event was held on 3 and 4 July at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, Fiji. The event was organised in recognition of the need to support and strengthen the participation of Pacific Small Island Developing Sates (P-SIDS) in the global climate action agenda. The CAPP event brought together relevant stakeholders to promote the exchange of ideas, innovations, and solutions. It helped drive transformative outcomes and initiatives to boost climate action in the Pacific, and inspire urgently needed increases in ambition and action elsewhere. The CAPP event is part of a program of activities of the High Level Champions appointed under the Paris Agreement, hosted by Fiji’s High Level Champion, Minister Seruiratu. The agenda featured interactive sessions with contributions from Pacific leaders, civil society and the private sector.